Gingerdead Man

Gingerdead Man by Maya Corrigan is the 7th A Five-Ingredient Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. I thought Gingerdead Man was well-written with developed characters. Val Deniston keeps busy with managing the Cool Down Café, catering events, spending time with Granddad, and dating Bram Muir. Granddad is always up to something. When not whipping up five ingredient items for his Codger Cook column, he is working on his detective skills. Granddad is a hoot. I liked that he managed to surprise Val with some of the things he did regarding the case. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Dickens of a Holiday Festival with people dressed up in Victorian costumes. It reminded me of German Village where I grew up (instead of Dickens, they do German traditions). The mystery was well-plotted and went nicely with the theme of the book. I especially enjoyed the Christmas killer dressed up as the Ghost of Christmas Present. While I was able to pinpoint the identity of the killer early on, I still enjoyed following the mystery to the end. I could have done with less speculation and there was some repetition of case details. The whodunit had a good reveal and wrap up. I like that the case was wrapped up with a bow. Gingerdead Man was an entertaining and creative cozy mystery with a snockered Santa, a disenchanted Scrooge, killer cookies, contaminated chocolates, and one consumed Christmas killer.